Chuck Schumer Declares Victory on Omnibus: ‘We’re Able to Accomplish More in the Minority’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) declared victory on the omnibus spending bill Thursday, saying, “We’re able to accomplish more in the minority.”

Schumer said, “It’s a funny thing. In a certain sense, we’re able to accomplish more in the minority than we were when we had the presidency or even were in the majority.”

The Senate Minority Leader continued, “At the end of the day, as the minority party, we feel good about being able to succeed in so many ways. We don’t have the House, we don’t have the Senate, we don’t have the presidency, but we produced a darn good bill for the priorities we have believed in.”

Sen. Schumer also touted the inclusion of the Gateway bridge project in the omnibus, as well as increased funding for the National Institute of Health (NIH).

House Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC) lamented in an interview with Breitbart News Daily on Tuesday that the “Senate Democrats seem to be calling most of the shots.”

As Breitbart News reported, the omnibus spending bill contains language that explicitly bars funding for a southern border wall.

The omnibus also contains provisions that expand the H-2B visa-worker program, which would reduce market pressure on companies to offer American workers higher wages.

Republican leadership included provisions that will allow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct gun research as well.

Additionally, the omnibus has the Fix NICS Act, which would allow unelected bureaucrats to remove Americans’ right to purchase firearms without due process.

The House Freedom Caucus came out against the omnibus on Wednesday night, calling the legislation an “insult to American taxpayers.”

The House conservatives sent a letter to the White House asking President Trump to reject the omnibus, calling the spending bill a rejection of everything conservatives promised the American people.

Republican leadership unveiled the legislation on Wednesday and gave House lawmakers less than 17 hours to vote on the bill.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said Wednesday that the omnibus spending bill “is a Great Dane-sized whiz down the leg of every taxpayer.”

President Donald Trump signed the $1.3 trillion, 2,232-page spending bill on Friday.